For a logistics operation that receives, ships, and delivers packages, it is common to deploy one or more receptacles or repositories that accept such packages for shipment. For example, such a receptacle or repository (generally referred to as a logistics receptacle) may come in the form of a drop box, which allows a customer to securely deposit a package to be shipped within it but not provide customer access to an interior holding area of the drop box. Another example may be a locker unit type of receptacle, which provides the customer with secure access to the interior holding area of the receptacle along with the service courier picking up any packages within the holding area. As such, a logistics receptacle is often an entry point for a package being shipped from one location to another.
In some situations, a logistics receptacle may be privately deployed and managed by dedicated or part-time shipment personnel (e.g., a shipment bin that collects packages to be shipped in a mail room or shipping office). In this situation, the personnel usually interact with the shipping customer to determine different types of packages, which may be associated with different types of service couriers or pickup entities.
In other situations, a logistics receptacle may be publicly deployed. For example, a logistics operation may deploy multiple logistics receptacles (e.g., drop boxes) at different geographic locations so that the public may be able to more conveniently drop off packages to be shipped (by the logistics operation) rather than travel to a central shipping office or shipping center. As such, many publicly deployed logistics receptacles are not actively manned by personnel. Thus, publicly deployed logistics receptacles are often used as secure repositories for packages and are only periodically serviced by a pickup entity, such as a courier service.
Some logistics receptacles may be serviced by only one pickup entity or courier service, but other logistics receptacles may be serviced by more than one entity or more than one type of courier service. For example, FedEx Corporation has a network of approximately 43,000 drop boxes that are serviced by the FedEx Express® service, which provides time-definite shipping (e.g., FedEx SameDay, FedEx Priority Overnight). If a FedEx drop box would be serviced by another entity or courier service (e.g., FedEx Ground that provides cost-effective, day-definite shipping for small packages; or FedEx Home Delivery® that focuses on residential deliveries), the potential servicing by more than one entity introduces difficulties in operational planning and efficiency.
For instance, when a particular logistics receptacle is only serviced by a single pickup entity, the pickup schedule may be easy to set and efficiently manage. However, when different types of packages are deposited that require service by different pickup entities, managing and setting the pickup schedule in an efficient way becomes more complicated and ripe for inefficiencies and mistakes. Thus, using a fixed schedule for two different pickup entities to service and pickup any potential packages from a given logistics receptacle may incur wasted resources when only one type of package has been deposited (i.e., the receptacle may contain only packages for one of the pickup entities but not the other, which wastes time and resources to have the other pickup entity service the receptacle).
To address these requirements, a system is needed that may robustly detect and differentiate types of packages used by different service couriers (without necessarily relying upon a scan) and, in some instances, may efficiently extend such detection information into enhanced predictive operational planning for a logistics operation.